On Dec. 18, Yuma City Council authorized the City to apply for Arizona State Match Advantage for Rural Transportation funds for infrastructure projects.
The AZ SMART fund was created in 2022 by the Arizona Legislature. The funds are intended to assist municipalities, counties and the Arizona Department of Transportation to compete for federal grants.
AZ SMART funds are available for federal discretionary grants. The funds are awarded by the discretion of the federal agency and not distributed by formula/allocation. ADOT requires applicants to have jurisdictional approval prior to applying for AZ SMART funds.
The Yuma projects would include storm drain upgrades and traffic interchange improvements. The first proposal concerns a traffic interchange at I-8 and Avenue 8½ E. The Arizona Department of Transportationcreated a Design Concept Report in March of 2000 to consider alternatives for the traffic interchange. The goals of the report were to provide access to North Frontage Road and 32nd Street.
Fiscal limitations would not allow the underpass to be constructed at the time. A partially constructed interchange was created to provide direct access to I-8. The interchange is two decades old. A new Design Concept Report is required to evaluate how to meet travel demands.
An initial proposal for the report was made that carried a total price tag of $600K. The proposal intended AZ SMARTto fund $480K and the City to fund the remaining $120K. The City funds were to come from a minimum 20% local match. Council then decided on Dec. 18 to revise the report cost to $1.5M and remove language surrounding the local match.
If the grant is secured, AZ SMART will fund the entire project.
Hacienda Estates Storm Drainage
The second project the City is seeking AZ SMART funds is the Hacienda Estates Stormwater Improvement project.
In Sept. 2024, the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant programnotified Yuma the project had been identified as needing further review. Flooding has previously caused property damage within the subdivision. The project would increase the safety of residents in the area and decrease flood insurance costs.
The project is estimated to cost $5.3M. The FMA program would provide the project with nearly $4M, the City’s road tax would provide the project with $850K and the AZ SMART funds would cover $480K. The City funds would include the $120K needed for the AZ SMART local match requirement.
40th Street from Avenue 6E to Fortuna Road
Roadways along I-8 and 32nd Street have experienced an increase in traffic from the ever-growing development in the Foothills community in eastern Yuma.
The 40th Street Corridor would be a four-lane, minor arterial roadway to connect the eastern communities to the rest of the city. A Design Concept Report is also being developed to explore other options to ease east-west traffic in the area.
While creating the report, Yuma applied for a $60M Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant that carries a 20% local match of $15M. The City is now seeking $10M in AZ SMART funding to assist in the local match. Of the remaining $5M, the City plans to pay $4M and Yuma County plans to pay $1M. (Source)
